United States

US set 73% duty for Far East tower imports

UNITED STATES: Imports of Chinese and Vietnamese wind turbine now face duties in the US of up to 73% and 60% respectively.

The US Department of Commerce (DoC) imposed the preliminary tariffs after accusing Chinese and Vietnamese manufacturers of dumping wind turbine towers on the US domestic market at below production cost.

In December, the US-based Wind Tower Trade Coalition, whose members are Broadwind Energy, DMI Industries, Katana Summit and Trinity Structural Towers, had filed a complaint with the DoC.

"The [DoC] has taken an important step to address the significant dumping that is taking place," said Alan Price of Wiley Rein and the coalition’s lead counsel.

In 2011, imports of Chinese and Vietnamese towers were valued at some $222 million and $79 million respectively, said the DoC.

In May, the DoC had imposed preliminary duties of 14% to 26% on imported Chinese towers because of Beijing's allegedly unfair subsidies for its own tower sector.

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